A book is like a garden carried in the pocket. ~ Chinese Proverb

Struggling with a looming deadline, I retreated to the local library a couple of days ago in a bid to make quick work of it in the quiet of the Reading Room. En route, I just HAD to browse through the array of new arrivals placed enticingly on the display shelves (more so to delay the inevitablity of sitting down to deal with a pile of uninspiring 'office' work than anything else) and was rewarded with... TREASURE! 
Spankingly new and calling out my name! Nothing better to cheer a girl up on a gloomy Thursday afternoon!

So many wonderful possibilities to explore... so today, my journey begins with a tiny step. I made the Snake Book. It folds up into a 2.5 inch square - a sweet little miniature that could be used to hide lovely surprises. According to the author, it can be used for presenting a timeline, showing a family tree or as a travel book.

I'm thinking of writing inspiring quotes on the pages and giving it to the special people in my life... Hope to show you more experiments in the next few weeks.


Gotta go catch up on my reading now and bring my little one to ...... the library to check out his books! See ya!


Sheon

A Baby on the Way

Hi there,

If you're wondering....no..it's not me who's having a baby...but this week I've received lovely news that an ex-student of mine is going to be a mum!

It made me realised that it's been a while since I've made booties for a baby boy. Here is a pair of booties for a spunky lad....modeled after daddy's deck shoes or 'boat shoes' (as I've learnt from my 'research').

One common characteristic of these deck shoes is the contrast lace that runs around the body of the shoe which is faithfully replicated.
The dark chocolate yarn is Japanese cotton and provides a wonderful contrast to the cream acrylic/nylon blend.

As usual, the sole is double-layered, giving the booties a structured 'shoe-like' look.
What do you think? Sweet teddy (her name is 'Amanda' by the way) thinks they're great for surfing too : )
If you know of a spunky little boy who would love these 'deck shoes', get them from our shop.

On another note, I'm extremely encouraged that all the smaller white fabric flowers have been turned into hairclips for some sweet little girls. I do hope they like them. However , if you would like them replicated, please feel free to ask!

Serena

When I was your age...

Hi everyone! How have you been?  It's been a hectic week around here but I'm looking forward to spending some quality time with my dear ones soon.


Here's a quick post of a card I customised - for a young lady who turns 24 next week. I was told that her favourite colour is brown... hmmm... a rather unconventional choice wouldn't you say? 
I'm guessing You must be a  steady, grounded individual with a strong sense of who You want to be. And what a wonderful age to be all that and more - the world is at your feet! 

Happy Birthday!

Just for fun, here's a look at what some people did when they were 24...

• Nelly Bly made a solo trip around the world in less than 80 days for the New York World, beating Phileas Fogg's fictional record.
• Radioastronomy grad student Jocelyn Bell Burnell observed an unknown signal from outer space; this resulted in the discovery of pulsars.
• John Couch Adams became the first person to predict the position of a planetary mass beyond Uranus.
• Johannes Kepler defended the Copernican theory and described the structure of the solar system.
• Entrepreneur Ted Turner took over his father's billboard advertising business. He later launched CNN.
• Tracy Chapman released her first album, winning three Grammies.
• Scottish physician Mungo Park became the first European to reach the West African interior.
• Edgar Allen Poe won a $50 prize for the story "MS. Found in a Bottle." 

Whether we're older or younger than 24, let's make our days count!

Sheon

A Designer's Inspiration

Hi there,

My buddy (co-blogger) Sheon celebrated her birthday this week. This was the perfect reason to crochet a bag and this is what I came up with:

The inspiration for this bag began when I set eyes on this crochet bag by Stella McCartney...I'm not sure which season it is from, but I loved its look and or course the fact that it is crocheted!

However, I wasn't too sure about how comfortably the metallic chain would sit on the shoulder and had no idea where to buy such chains of the 'will-not-rust' quality. When I saw this 'shiny' silver cord, I felt it was a good 'substitute'. Since I used a more textured stitching for the bag body, I decided to cut down on the embellishments as compared to the McCartney bag.

The cord was sewn to the bag using the same yarn and followed the 'grain' of the cord such that the blue yarn 'sat naturally' along the cord. Since the cord was a little to 'thin' as a strap, I crocheted a chain from the yarn and sewed it to the cord to 'thicken it:

As with my usual practice, I lined the bag - this time with a lovely piece of printed brocade from 'my secret stash' of fabrics. The bag also has a magnetic closure.

The biggest challenge was to create a strap which had an adjustable length but without the traditional 'slider' found on most bag straps such as:

(picture from 'Sewing with Colour')

After toying with about a gazillion ideas, I finally settled on this:

The nature of the yarn-wrapped cord enables it to wrap tightly around the silver ring and so the length can be adjusted by just 'easing' the two portions of the cord which wrap around the upper and lower  sections of the round silver ring.

Hope you've enjoyed reading about this as much as I've enjoyed making it! Have a great weekend!

Serena